An engaging story steeped in history and Southern lore.
In Molinari’s Early Readers novel, a young girl encounters segregation and learns to stand up for human rights.
In the early 1950s, 10-year-old Lena Hopkins (nicknamed “Sister”) and her family move to Dreamer’s Rest, Georgia, where her father trains military pilots. In their new locale, Sister and her brother, 6-year-old Bud, seek out the forbidden, wandering off the path to school, spewing foul words, and exploring the swamp (Lena’s father counsels, “Since we do not want the critters in our home, we do not trespass on their territory unless invited. By the way, if an alligator invites you to dinner, do not accept the invitation.”). When Sister and Bud are mandated to transfer from Robert E. Lee Elementary to a country school, they experience segregation firsthand. Walking miles to school every day, getting to know their neighbors, and exploring the swamp, they learn lessons about diversity, prejudice, and discrimination. Sister, with her Cherokee ancestry and status as a military brat, learns that she must also battle discrimination to become the scientist she aspires to be. However, many of her Black neighbors cannot even attend school at all and experience overt hate crimes until the neighborhood children rally to build a safe neighborhood for all residents. Written in an appealing, anecdotal style, the author’s debut novel presents an authentic, kind, and engaging female protagonist. Molinari portrays Sister’s emotional and cognitive development in a believable manner, and the swamp setting is vividly realized. While there are moments when the story seems to take on too many issues, including feminism and bullying, the presentation of us-versus-them social dynamics feels accurate. The novel is a fine contribution to children’s literature and bookshelves that highlight diversity.
An engaging story steeped in history and Southern lore.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 9781669825043
Page Count: 200
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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